With a significant delay of more than one month, I am finally finding small patches of free time to write about our vacation activities. One of the first things we have done after settling in my mom’s apartment was that we got a bike for Andi. After her dissatisfaction with a hybrid (trekking) bike in the US, we got a mountain bike - Author Solution. Just like last year, I borrowed a bike from my father – Author brand as well. The next day, we took both bikes for a spin in the hilly terrain around my Martin, my home town.
Author Solution
I picked a technically simple, albeit hilly track mostly to the southwest of Martin, on the hillsides of Lucanska Mala Fatra Mountains. You see, there is a road connecting a suburb of Martin (Strane) with a village directly to the south – Trebostovo. This “tank road” as the locals call it, is a remnant from the Cold War, connecting tank testing grounds near Martin – Strane, with, what I remember as a kid, was an ammunition depot. During the Cold War Martin was one of the center of heavy engineering industry in former Czechoslovakia, manufacturing among other things – Russian-designed tanks and heavy armored vehicles, such as the T-72.
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Google Earth KML file
Elevation profile of the ride
The weather was excellent, not too hot not too cold and mostly sunny. The views – stunning as you can judge from the pictures below. I was so amazed by the views, which I have not seen in such a long time that I felt compelled to place a geocache at a place where I took one of the two panoramic shots below. By the time we got to Trebostovo, we were hungry and thirsty for some Kofola on tap (Kofola on Wikipedia). When you think about it really, the only way to drink Kofola is from the tap. Bottled Kofola is good too, but doesn’t come close to the tapped stuff. After lunch we moved on, through the village of Turciansky Peter to Kostany nad Turcom and from there on dirt paths across the hill and past the Open Air Museum of Slovak Village to my mom’s place in the part of Martin called Ladoven. All in all about 17.5 miles (28 km) of fine riding.
Panorama of the Turiec Valley, with the village of Bystricka to the left and the Velka Fatra Mountains in the background
First downhill riding of the day!
On the "tank road"
With my hometown of Martin in the background
On the way to Trebostovo
Panorama of the Turiec Basin. Martin is on the left, the villages of Turciansky Peter and Trebostovo are in the middle and to the right, respectively.
Lunch outside of a local pub in Trebostovo
On the way home, from the village of Zabokreky, over the hill to our apartment.
Great post, I’m looking forward for the rest articles covering Your holiday